EXCLUSIVE - 'Raped, tormented and locked in a room to starve with her two babies': The shocking claims of a young Jewish mother who found the courage to flee her husband but is still 'chained' because he refuses to grant religious divorce

Rivky Stein was 18 when she wed Yoel Weiss, then 26, in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony. He promised a matchmaker $18,000 to arrange the marriage

She says was locked away in a room with her two children. 'We got roughly two meals a day, normally reused chicken soup'

during one alleged rape, Rivky told MailOnline: 'He comes in naked and said "let’s go".
I said no, so he took my hands, twisted them behind my back and dragged
me to our bedroom'

Weiss refuses to give Rivky a 'get,' or religious divorce

Refusal by husbands to grant their wives a get is a widespread issue in the Orthodox Jewish community

In the summer of 2012 Rivky escaped with the clothes on her back and her children and has obtained an order of protection against Weiss

A young Orthodox Jewish mother claims today she bravely fled an abusive and controlling husband and reveals the years of physical torture and mind games she says she endured as she fights to free herself as an ‘Agunah’ - chained wife - from the bonds of their religious marriage.

Rivky discovered on her wedding night aged 18 that Yoel Weiss, the ‘charming and spiritual’ man she believed she had married, was a violent and malevolent force who took pleasure in watching her suffer.

In an exclusive interview with
MailOnline, Rivky Stein repeats claims made in court papers and explains
how her naivety led her into her nightmare marriage.

At her home in Brooklyn, Rivky, now 24, said: ‘From the first night, I knew I was trapped. He changed to who he really was. He made it very clear to me that he owned me. His mentality was that I was his possession and that anything he said I had to do.'

Immediately the marriage turned into one of fear and control with Weiss monitoring Rivky’s every move, she claims.

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Brave: Rivky Stein believed she had married a good man who believed in the Torah. But on the night she was wed to Yoel Weiss, he turned into a monster. She finally summoned the courage to leave, but Weiss refuses to let her out of the marriage

Reign of terror: Yoel Weiss raped and starved Rivky Stein, she has alleged in court papers. She claims MailOnline in an exclusive interview that he paid $18,000 to a matchmaker in their Orthodox Jewish community to marry her off to him

She said: ‘I didn’t have anywhere to go back to. He had cut me off from my family and my friends. He monitored my phone. Everything was controlled, I couldn’t reach out to family and I was also ashamed. And I was scared what he would do.

‘So I thought, that’s it, I’m screwed, this is what I have to deal with now. And that all started from the beginning.’

It wasn't until the summer of 2012 that Rivky found a window of opportunity for her and her two young children to flee.

She obtained an order of protection from the court - an order which Weiss has violated and been arrested for five times.

Weiss claims the complaints filed by Rivky were false. He says he was never jailed.

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In Rivky's affirmations, laid out in court documents, she asserts she was 'held captive, starved, forcibly isolated and frequently the victim of marital rape.' After nearly four years of captivity, 'I finally escaped with only the clothes on my back.'

Yoel Weiss denies his wife's allegations.

'I didn’t have anywhere to go back to.
He had cut me off from my family and my friends. He monitored my phone.
Everything was controlled, I couldn’t reach out to family and I was also
ashamed. And I was scared what he would do' - Rivky Stein

He told MailOnline that he is prepared to give Ms Stein her get but that she was unwilling to settle on child custody issues or drop her order of protection.

'She's the mother of my children,' Weiss told MailOnline. 'But she's willing to fabricate anything. If something took place, I'd be in jail.'

However, Joseph Bamberger, who was hired to act as a mediator for the couple last January, said he spoke at length with Rivky and believes that she was treated like 'an enslaved prisoner'.

Bamberger says he asked Weiss about all of Rivky's allegations.

In a statement later submitted to the court Bamberger wrote: 'All those allegations I later verified with Yoel, whose only response was "I changed.'"

And now, even though Rivky has courageously left the man who she says tormented and abused her, living in a small apartment with a two young chuldren with five locks on the door, Weiss refuses to give her the get - a divorce in the eyes of the Orthodox Jewish faith - meaning that she cannot get on with her life. Rivky remains his Agunah - chained wife.

Precious moments: Although Rivky still lives he fear of her husband, she is trying to give her two children a life of normalcy. 'Once my children came, if I went out, he usually held one of my children or both of them as an assurance that I would come back. Everything was extremely monitored and controlled,' she tells MailOnline

Walk in the park: 'I love my children,' Yoel Weiss tells MailOnline

Refusal to release their wives from the bonds of marriage through the religious divorce or get is a widespread problem in the Orthodox Jewish community.

The
newlyweds moved into a property in a residential neighborhood but behind
the facade of a regular Brooklyn house, Rivky described her marital
home as a ‘warehouse filled with shelves of merchandise and workers
everywhere’.

She
told MailOnline: ‘If I ever wanted to leave the house, I had to ask him
permission. I had to say where, when, exactly what time I would be
back. If I was to go out, it would be with a family member of his.

‘Once
my children came, if I went out, he usually held one of my children or
both of them as an assurance that I would come back. ‘Everything was
extremely monitored and controlled.

'The rapes were about control and power. I was very heavily pregnant with my son. He demanded sex. I was so scared that he was going to hurt the baby - and it was scary that he didn't care, this was also his baby'

‘The punishments were all the time. He locked me into rooms until he decided I could come out. Constant emotional and sexual abuse. Everything was to exert his control over me.’

‘The rapes were about control and power. I was very heavily pregnant with my son. He demanded sex.

‘I was so scared that he was going to hurt the baby - and it was scary that he didn’t care, this was also his baby. He told me that I was hurting the baby because I was not respecting him when he told me we were having sex now. So I just let him get it over with. But it was hell. That was one of many rapes but that stands out in my mind. ‘

Rivky was set up with Yoel Weiss at the age of 18 while living with her much loved foster family the Lefkowitzs following years bouncing around the care system. She later found out that Weiss had promised a matchmaker $18,000 to marry her off to him.

She told MailOnline: ‘I was married off at 18. Yoel Weiss was the first man I ever dated. He knew me from the community, he knew I was from a broken home and I would be easy to manipulate and take total control over.

‘We dated and there was a point where I wanted to stop because I didn’t feel I was ready yet. But there’s a lot of pressure in the community to get married young and the matchmaker was pressing everything.’

Rivky, now 24 and the mother of a boy, five, and three-year-old girl, described how Yoel, 32, a businessman in the cargo trade, at first won her affections by seeming like the perfect man.

Loving mom: The mother-of-two says she made two failed attempts to flee her marriage - but each time her husband showed up within minutes of her breaking out

‘Yoel was extremely charming and charismatic. He mirrored me. I’m an extremely religious person, I have a very close connection with God and he mirrored my spirituality. He listened to me as if he was understanding, supportive.

‘He would tell me how he loves to learn Torah and how I help him grow in connection with God. I was amazed - I wanted a home on Torah and here, he wants the same thing.

‘He listened to everything I said, he was so charming. At one point, he lost half a million dollars in the stock market and he would say to me ‘’it’s all from God’’. Little did I know he was screaming at every other person but when we were dating, he was all calm, cool and collected to me. I didn’t see the signs to look for. I was naive.’

‘He listened to everything I said, he
was so charming. At one point, he lost half a million dollars in the
stock market and he would say to me ‘’it’s all from God’’. Little did I
know he was screaming at every other person... I didn’t see the signs to look
for. I was naive’

The couple dated for three months before becoming engaged and were married in a traditional Orthodox ceremony six weeks later.

‘He would tell me “you’re beautiful’’ and also coming from a broken home, I thought here’s someone who can take care of me. Financially he was very well-off. It wasn’t something I was looking for but he could take care of me.’

Rivky is in therapy to help her bring up the suppressed memories from the early years of her abusive marriage. Amid years of torment and abuse, there are some moments that are seared in her memory.

‘People always say ‘’oh if a guy ever touched me, I would beat him.’’ she said. ‘ One time, right before I left, I was sleeping and I wake up and he’s on top of me. He’s naked and he says ‘’let’s go, we’re having sex now.’’ I told him no. He told me to respect him, and that we were having sex.

‘So I told him I had to go to the bathroom. Then I quickly went into my son’s bedroom and lay down, thinking maybe he’ll forget about it.

Against her will: Weiss took Rivky without her consent on many occasions, she tells MailOnline, claims she has also made in court papers. One time, she says, he 'comes in naked and said "let's go". I said no, so he took my hands, twisted them behind my back and dragged me to our bedroom'

‘He comes in naked and said ‘’let’s go’’. I said no, so he took my hands, twisted them behind my back and dragged me to our bedroom. Our beds were pushed together, my daughter was on the other bed asleep and he physically just pinned me down. And I thought ‘’I’m going to fight back’’ but I was not strong enough.

‘And he raped me. He physically took total control over me and just raped me. I was telling him, ‘’this is rape, this is rape, stop’’ and then he finishes. I felt like… I actually don’t have a word to describe how I felt. Less than an object.

'He physically took total control over me
and just raped me. I was telling him, ‘’this is rape, this is rape,
stop’’ and then he finishes. I felt like… I actually don’t have a word
to describe how I felt. Less than an object'

‘Then he hugged me and kissed me - but never on the mouth because that was intimate and this was about control. He said how much he loved me and said, ‘’you know I wouldn’t have to do this, if you would just be respectful when your husband demands sex.’’’

Yoel’s abuse became a complex mind game for the teenage Rivky to navigate as he always tied it to her apparent inadequacies as a wife.

‘They make you feel like it’s your fault, that you caused it. So all the time, which sounds ridiculous, I was always thinking ‘’How can I be more respectful?’’; ‘’How can I be a good wife?’’’

‘I always tried to prove myself, I was like a rag. But I was never respectful enough, obviously not.’

Another time, Yoel ordered his wife to write a list of her failings in order for him to consider sending their son to a good school.

Rivky said: ‘Yoel was kicked out of school at a young age and was unable to read or write for some time, so he has no respect for education which worries me immensely.

Shelter: Rivky and her children live in a small basement apartment in Brooklyn, NY. She works two jobs. She believes her estranged husband recently added a $75,000 Tesla to his growing car collection of two Audis and a Lexus

He demanded that Rivky write a list of 30 things that she did to disrespect him. The mother-of-two said: ‘I sound so stupid, but I started writing because I would have done anything to get my son into that school. I would do anything for my children.

‘I got up to the second line and I thought ‘’what do I write?’’ I was a rag for him. I would get up at 5am to make the bread for shabat. I mean it was boom - you said anything and I did it, it was done.’

‘So I asked him ‘’what else should I write? Whatever you want, I will write it.’’ He said: ‘’You should know the things that you do that disrespect me. You’ll come up with it on your own.’’

Yoel reinforced to his young wife that she was inferior and needed him to get by.

'He wanted people to think he was the most amazing husband. I had to put on a smile, like everything was fine'

‘He would come home, puff his chest out over me and say: ‘’Who’s smarter me or you?’’ And of course, I had to answer him. He would say: ‘’I am smarter, trust that I know what’s best for you. Don’t think you’re so smart, I’m going to break you.’’ That was all the time, he would be over me saying that.’

‘It was his enjoyment - breaking people, watching them suffer. Only now I see that it is low self-esteem and how much he hates himself.’

Despite the abuse in private, Rivky says that whenever the couple went out in public, Yoel would have his young wife dripping in gold and diamonds and wearing nice clothes that he picked out.

‘We would go out and he would say ‘’did you get any compliments?’’ And I would say no. He would say ‘’roll up that sleeve that and let them see that watch.’’

‘He wanted people to think he was the most amazing husband. I had to put on a smile, like everything was fine.

‘He was watching me to make sure I showed people the jewelry. When we got home, he would take them off and hide them. It wasn’t mine. I didn’t own anything. I was a nothing.’

Living in fear: Rivky has five locks on her door and wiring to an alarm system but that didn't stop someone breaking through the ceiling to install a secret video camera

The mother-of-two tried made two failed attempts to flee her marriage - but each time her husband showed up within minutes of her breaking out.

‘How did he know? He was literally there in minutes. There was another time where he shipped me off to Canada to work but he needed to keep more control so brought me home.

‘He brought me back to his parents’ house where I was kept in a one-room with a bathroom for quite some time with the children.

‘I wasn’t allowed to leave without permission. I hadn’t gone outside for a few months.

‘They didn’t give me adequate food to feed me and the children. We got roughly two meals a day, normally reused chicken soup from the shabbat.

'I could
see my kids were getting so small. They were so skinny. I knew I was not
allowed to leave that room without permission and I knew I would get it
if I did'

‘I could
see my kids were getting so small. They were so skinny. I knew I was not
allowed to leave that room without permission and I knew I would get it
if I did. But there comes a point as a mother, you have to do
something. So I took them and I ran to the doctor’s office.

‘When
I got there, I turned around and there he is [Yoel]. He told me I was
always being watched but to see the proof was scary.

‘He
didn’t want me to tell the doctor what was happening but at that point,
I was there and thought I know I’m getting a good beating when I get
back, but since I’m here and I’m getting a beating anyway, i’m going to
see the doctor with my kids.

‘The
doctor made me feel like the bad mother, saying your kids are underfed,
you have to feed them. I started crying and saying ‘’please tell him to
feed us’’. She said ‘’I’m not going involved in marriage matters’’. ‘

‘It was scary, here he was abusing me and it was like it was condoned by everybody.’

Despite living in constant fear and paranoia, Rivky found the courage to tell a friend that Weiss was physically abusive.

Chained: Weiss says that he was prepared to give her the get, or religious divorce, but she was unwilling to settle on child custody or drop her order of protection

‘It was the first time I had ever admitted it after a few years of this. From that point, things starting turning and I started admitting to myself things that were going on. I admitted to myself that I’d been raped. I gained more and more strength. But it took me from being verbally able to admit it to give me more strength.

Then in the summer of 2012, Rivky found a window of opportunity for her and her two young children to flee.

When I finally tried to leave for the third time, I told God ‘’I’m trying to do this for my kids and myself and I know that you are with me.’’

‘And it miraculously happened. By the time he got wind of what was going on, it was too late. I had an order of protection.’

By the
time Rivky was gone just an hour, Weiss had called her 20 times and all
her siblings. It was mentally scary to ignore him, she said.

At
the age of 11, Rivky, who is the second youngest of another three
sisters and three brothers, was taken into foster care. Having never
been close to any of the foster families as she was bounced around the
system, in high school she came to stay with the Lefkowitzs.

She
said: ‘I had never been close to foster families because I switched so
often but with the Lefkowitzs, I became extremely close. My foster mom I
called her bubby, which means grandma. She was everything to me, my
mother figure. My children also called her bubby.’

It
is a tiny basement apartment under the Lefkowitzs’ home in Boro Park,
Brooklyn that Rivky has sought shelter with her two young children after
fleeing her husband.

‘I
do worry for my children and i fight as much as I can for them and try
to be responsible as possible and I pray. We don’t have control over it.
We have a very happy home, we do so much fun stuff together.

‘I
teach my children to have an appreciation for what you have. They will
always go through challenges and see the positive. They have this type
of father, so they have to think well for themselves. But he’s their
father and I never say a bad thing about him to them, that’s something
they will have to work out on their own.’

Happy family? Weiss contends that Rivky's claims are false and is prepared to give her get but that she was unwilling to settle on child custody issues

Rivky works two jobs along with caring single-handedly five days a week for two young children, Her estranged husband recently added a $75,000 Tesla to his growing car collection of two Audis and a Lexus.

Rivky said: ‘‘He doesn’t provide adequate support for his own children and is trying to get us evicted from our apartment. I get it, he wants me to suffer, but he has no problem that his children would end up on the street.’

The 24-year-old said that some people shunned her after she left her marriage. ‘It’s either I lost a lot of friends or I gained knowledge of who they really are,’ she said. Some she said, taken in by her ex’s vast wealth, even tried to convince her to return to the marriage.

The mother
works in the afternoons at a nursery and from Friday evening until
Sunday evening she works around the clock at a care home for the
mentally disabled. She said that the work being able to care for others
was rewarding.

'I’m not
bashing any community, I’m not bashing rabbis, I’m just trying to open
their eyes that this is not okay, we cannot condone abuse and we have to
stand up to the bully'

Rivky
hopes to return to college which she has currently given up due to
financial restraints. She had considering going into law but doesn’t
think it would be fulfilling so dreams of becoming to a therapist.

Her little apartment safe haven has been violated. Rivky recently came home to her apartment to find that someone had been inside and thrown her belongings around the rooms.

The living room recently had a temporary wall constructed out of plywood down the center leaving her with only a narrow space.

The
living room also had a door constructed to block out Rivky. It has a
security alarm and five locks installed from the outside - but not the
inside - so Rivky would be unable to access it. She also found a hidden
camera installed in the ceiling.

At
other times, a man has come to stand on the other side of the locked
door and scream abuse and curse into her kitchen while she is home alone
with her two young children. She said that he screams that she will
have her children taken away from her. She turns up the radio and herds
the children into their bedroom to block out the sound.

Living a lie: Weiss like to parade Rivky out in public swathed in pricey gold jewelry and watches so people would think she was living a charmed life. But when they returned home, she says he took it all away and put it under lock and key. 'Nothing was mine,' she says

Rivky believes that her beloved foster family have taken these actions against her because they are being threatened by her estranged husband.

‘It shows how evil Yoel Weiss is, that the Lefkowitzs, who have a high reputation, are so afraid of him. It’s to show them, ‘’I’m not kidding with you, get her out of the apartment.’’’

Rivky said that her ex ‘has no problem destroying people’s marriages, businesses, status’.

Yoel Weiss
is the nephew of Shalom Weiss who is currently serving 845 years for
half a billion dollars insurance fraud. Rivky said that Yoel looked to
his uncle as a ‘mentor’.

Rivky
is the primary caregiver of the children and Weiss has visitation
rights. However he refuses to give her the get - a divorce in the eyes
of the Orthodox Jewish faith - meaning that she cannot get on with her
life. Rivky remains his Agunah - chained wife.

The
24-year-old has no control over the situation - the get is all on the
husband’s terms. The situation can go on ‘forever’, Rivky said.

‘There
is no reason why in 2014, a woman has to be chained,and cannot go on
with her life. And if she did go on with her life, without the get, she
would be ostracized,’ she said.

She hopes that her story can help others to free themselves from being Agunahs. She has posted a video on YouTube sharing her ordeal with others and has a website, RedeemRivky.

Bundle of joy: Rivky feared she would lose the precious baby she was carrying when she says Weiss demanded to have sex

‘I
appreciate every positive comment that people have posted to me, it
keeps giving me strength. People have thanked me for bringing this out
into the open.

‘Stand
up to the bullies. It wasn’t easy, it takes a lot of courage not just
come forward for yourself but to come forward to the world.

‘It
was always going to be controversial I feel that I have to open up the
minds and the eyes in especially my community about domestic violence -
that it’s not ok to condone it.

'Being
an Agunah is also another form of abuse. The woman is entirely changed.
Her children are also stuck in a sense because they can’t have a
regular family life because the mother cannot go on'

‘Being
an Agunah is also another form of abuse. The woman is entirely changed.
Her children are also stuck in a sense because they can’t have a
regular family life because the mother cannot go on.

‘Just
like we’re not allowed to eat non-Kosher, there should be no Agunahs.
The Torah is there to protect women. The laws in the Torah put the woman
in a very high status to protect them. This is totally a distortion of
the Torah.

‘I’m not
bashing any community, I’m not bashing rabbis, I’m just trying to open
their eyes that this is not okay, we cannot condone abuse and we have to
stand up to the bully.

‘Yes,
it’s hard - believe me, I’m doing it and it’s really hard but we have
to do the right thing. Everyone in the community has at least a mother, a
sister, an aunt, a somebody that they know that has either gone through
domestic violence or is an Agunah. ‘Because it’s so widespread this
issue. We have to come up with a solution.’

Woman of courage: 'If I can just help one person and let her know that she is amazing and is worth something, then it is all worth it, just for that,' she says about her struggle to break free

Rivky hopes that religious leaders could play a role in helping end the situation of the Agunah. The judicial system cannot force a husband to give a get because then it is forced, and therefore, not a kosher get.

‘Anyone who is going through this, whether it is domestic abuse or being an Agunah, know that you are not alone. You deserve to be treated like a human being with respect, love and care.

‘If I can just help one person and let her know that she is amazing and is worth something, then it is all worth it, just for that.’